Good water drainage in a landscape may be as important as proper irrigation. Too much water in landscaped areas can result in numerous plant diseases, and can even kill sensitive plants. Overly wet turf areas are prone to soil compaction and scarring from foot prints and mowing equipment.
Drainage around building foundations is important to prevent leaks and moisture intrusion into building foundations, basements, and walls. Controlling water around a foundation can prevent or reduce foundation movement and the buildup of mold and fungus inside the building. Thus, controlling run off water preserves the value of the building and its landscape.
To control run off, surface drainage systems are used to collect excess surface water from flower beds, turf areas, and other similar low lying areas where run off water tends to collect. Water enters a surface drainage system through catch basins, which are set in the ground to collect water. A drainage grate covers the opening of a catch basin to prevent debris from entering and to provide a surface to support pedestrian or vehicle traffic in the yard or garden.
Catch basins connect to underground pipes that move the water downhill and away from the drained areas, where it may be released from an outlet in a location appropriate for the excess water. Several types of drainage pipe may be used in landscape drainage systems, including smooth wall pipes made from plastic, such as polyvinyl chloride (PVC), and corrugated plastic pipes made from high density polyethylene (HDPE). In addition to the different types or shapes, the drainage pipes are also available in different diameters.
Because there may be different kinds of pipes and different sizes of pipes used in a drainage system, landscaping contractors and their suppliers usually need to stock several different types of catch basins in order to connect to the different types of pipes. In any business, when the number of parts in inventory increases, the cost of stocking increases. Time and money may be wasted when contractors at the job site realize that the catch basins they have on site will not connect to the type or size of drain pipe at the site, making it necessary to run to the supplier to pick up a catch basin that fits the pipe.
Additionally, catch basins may be configured with more than one drain pipe connector or coupling, which provides more than one water inlet or outlet. If a landscape designer wants to connect to a first type or diameter of pipe to a first coupling, and a second type or diameter of pipe to a second coupling, the landscape supplier and contractor may have to stock yet another custom catch basin with the desired combination of inlet and outlet couplings.
Thus, there is a need for an improved coupling for drain pipes that can couple to different types and sizes of drain pipe, thereby eliminating the requirement of stocking a large variety of catch basins, and providing landscape designers and landscape contractors with options for connecting several sizes and types of pipe to the same coupling, and options in specifying the type of pipe connected to a particular catch basin.